Editor's note. Part Two is a delightful story about a young pro-life champion. Please send your thoughts on both parts to daveandrusko@hotmail.com.

Like you, over the years I've been on the receiving end of a fair number of shots across the bow. At the risk of stating the obvious, most often the slings and arrows are launched by people whose "tolerance" level is zero, bashing us for our alleged intolerance. Go figure.

But then there are people who are really in the eye of the storm, like pro-life Gov. Sarah Palin. It's one thing to be personally the butt of vicious caricatures and character assassination. Such blows sting but you can brush them off. But it is quite another when the attacks come from everywhere and are aimed at your children and (in Gov. Palin's case) your husband. To plow ahead, day after day, you have to be made of stern stuff.

On Monday Gov. Palin, along with much of her family, was in Colorado. Pro-life Dr. James Dobson, founder of the Colorado-based "Focus on the Family" ministry, caught up with Sarah Palin as she was running from one campaign stop to another and interviewed her by phone. You can listen to this special broadcast by going to http://www.citizenlink.org/clspecialalert/A000008476.cfm.

What amazed me the first time I saw Sarah Palin at a rally in Missouri was her uncanny ability to inspire and motivate, a direct reflection of her amazing capacity to connect with her audience. You knew from the moment pro-life Sen. John McCain introduced her as his running mate that Sen. McCain had made an inspired selection.

Everybody has their own theory why the "mainstream media" instantly went on a search-and-destroy mission. Some are very complicated explanations, some make you scratch your head, and some suggest darker impulses.

While there may be some truth in all of them, my own explanation is much simpler. Gov. Palin's nomination threw a monkey wrench into the plans of pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama's legion of media cheerleaders to coronate him in September. Instead of cruising to a relatively easy victory, Obama now would have to stand and fight.

In her interview with Dr. Dobson, Sarah Palin displayed the other quality I have found most impressive. To me it blends a fiery competitive spirit with a kind of upbeat serenity.

She talked about the times in her life--and Sen. McCain's--when she was in the underdog position. Palin spoke of how this motivated her, made her work harder, and strengthened her faith. Fighting against the odds seems to bring out the very best in her.

Indeed when Dr. Dobson asked her how she handled what he described as the media's attempt to "destroy you personally and politically," Palin's response seemed to suggest she saw this almost as a test of her character. Rather than dwell on the unfairness, she simply said, "If I can't handle it, I shouldn't have offered myself up for public service."

But is it what she called her "tough skin" that is sustaining her during the media siege? What came through clearly in her answers to Dr. Dobson is that what holds her up is her faith, which is her "foundation."

Gov. Palin specifically mentioned the prayers of Americans that she knows are being offered up on her behalf. I know from a torrent of emails and postings on places like Facebook that millions of her fellow pro-lifers are praying that she and her family be protected by what the Apostle Paul calls the full Armor of God.

Gov. Palin said she has faith in the wisdom of the American people, especially if she and Sen. McCain can get their message across "minus the filter of the mainstream media." So do I. But that requires help.

You can help circumvent that filter by downloading the presidential comparison sheet at http://nrlc.org/Election2008/comparison0909084c.pdf. You can also order multiple copies online at only a nickel each at http://www.nrlchapters.org/comparisonbuy.htm and have them sent out the same day.

Gov. Palin is an amazing woman and a credit to the cause of life.

Part Two -- When the Educated Become Educators and Inspire Others